Till Death Do Us Part 8
by Doug2
Summary: At Patti's wedding she is witchnappped.


Part 8

A very old-fashioned bell hanging on a wire tingled as the door of the Sugar and Spice Shoppe' sounded a very small sweet noise. In walked a tall, distinguished-looking gentlemen wearing a long coat and an unstylish derby hat. He surveyed the shop with cold steel gray eyes and looking from right to left spying a curtain leading to the backroom. The curtain parted and out stepped Melinda. Smiling she asked if she could help him.

"Are you Melinda Wyatt, the healer?" he asked in a grave tone. His death mask expression remained unchanged.

"I am. What can I help you with?" she said smiling a little less.

He reached under his coat, pulled out a small crossbow and fired at Melinda. Immediately sensing the attack she ducked beneath the counter and could feel the arrow shooting by her head. She stood up tossing a red pouch at him. Though he tried to duck, her aim was good and he disappeared in a mass of red flame wincing in great pain. Only the smell of brimstone remained.

"Mrs. Armstrong, what happened?" cried out Darien Warmouth her assistant. Though a practicing Wiccan and aware of the magical world, she was really only mortal.

"Another dark lighter," lamented Melinda. "You think they'd learn by now," she said running into the back to check on her son, Stevie Armstrong, age 2. "No one's going to hurt you, Stevie," she sighed looking at the sleeping baby.

He was the most important person in her life next to her husband, Richard Armstrong. They had met when she had been called to help out some innocents in Dallas after the attack of an upper level demon. Melinda immediately fell for his handsome weathered good looks, beautiful green eyes and rusty brown hair. Besides falling for her, he had become interested in the magical things that had attacked him. And together they developed a mutual interest and respect for what evil could do. They were together for  
about a year when he asked her to marry him. That was three years ago.

The ringing of the bell broke her reminiscing. Sighing again she walked through the curtain to see a much happier sight, her twenty- three year old sister Patti just glowing with the happiness on her approaching marriage to Michael Krebs, a well respected full witch she had met through her sister.

"Mel, Mel! I have the greatest news! Wait till you here this!" said Patti practically jumping out of her shoes.

"The fabric store finally reproduced the perfect shade of peach for our bridesmaid dresses?" asked Melinda teasing her sister a bit.  
"Oh no! Nothing like that. Besides we're going for a pale bluebird eggshell color," gushed Patti who had changed the color for the fourth time. Luckily the wedding was still nine months away. "Mom was going through the trunks in the old attic on Prescott Street looking for some candlesticks and then she asks me if I'd like to have the house to live in. Can you believe that?" she screamed. "That old beautiful house! A wedding present from Mom and Dad!"

"What? That..that house. Patti it is a wreck. No one has spent a night in it for thirty years. And Mom just gave it to you?" asked Melinda sounding a bit hurt.

"Why yes. Aren't you happy for me, Melly?" asked Patti whose smile turned to a pout.  
Melinda looked at her and didn't want to upset her.

"Yes, I'm happy for you," she said tilting her head to one side. "Its just Mom never had much interest in that house and never much interest in parting with it. I'm sure you can make it a fine home for you and Michael."

Patti's smile returned as she went over and hugged Melinda who was looking up with something bothering her.

Later that night, Melinda left Stevie with his father and orbed in on her mother.

Piper looked up from her work screen and removed her glasses. "Melinda, what a pleasant surprise. We weren't expecting you till Saturday." Piper came over and kissed her on the cheek. Melinda's turned down mouth indicating her unhappiness remained  
on her face. "Oh, so you're not happy with my little wedding present to your sister."

"H-how did you know?" asked Melinda furling up her brow.

"Um, Mothers know their children. I've been debating with myself for years. That was my sisters' home. I wanted to raise you two away from it because of what happened there. Then this place became my home and I never really wanted to go back to the Manor. We can't get rid of it, but then we can't.. Melinda I need to show you something. Can you take me to the Manor?" asked Piper looking quite introspective.

"Of course, Mother," said Melinda.

Grabbing two chemical torches, Piper put on her coat and out they orbed.

Inside the dark boarded up Manor small bright white spots of light appeared and formed Piper and Melinda in the entryway of the old house. The front door was the only access to the house and it was sealed tight by a new cybernetic locking system. Wallpaper peeled  
from the walls, furniture covered in plastic sheets that had turned to rags and all the pictures and knick-knacks boxed away in moving crates was all that was left to the once cheerful home. Dust was piled inches thick on the floor except on a thin runway that led to the attic and the inner sanctum of their magical world.

"Whoa. Where to start?" Piper asked to herself out loud. "We need to visit the basement. Check out the closet in the kitchen and find a broom, sweetie."

Melinda did as she was asked looking through a small room that probably had not been opened in decades. Inside was an old fashioned straw broom sitting next to many other unused cleaning items. Her Mother had already proceeded down the steps to the basement. "What could possibly interest her mother I an old damp cellar?" thought  
Melinda. The steps groaned she placed her foot on the first one. Grabbing the railing for comfort it pulled out from the wall falling down to the floor.

"Whoa. Melinda!" called out Piper from the bottom of the stairs.

"I'm all right, but I'm not so sure about these stairs," exclaimed Melinda catching her breath.

"I'm sorry, dear," replied her Mother helping her down the last couple of stairs. "That'll be the first thing to fix. Now hand me the broom."

Fascinated Melinda watched her mother swept up the dust at the base  
of the steps down to the ancient concrete floor. Piper shown her  
light at a very low angle revealing an ancient patch in the concrete.

"Here lies one of the spirits that your great-grandmother sealed in over fifty years ago. Your Aunt Phoebe who was born in this house just as you were had a strange connection with it. When you aunts and I lived I this house an earthquake released him and he took  
possession of Phoebe. She nearly killed the two of us. We fought him and won. The incantation is in the Book of Shadows," explained Piper staring out as if into the past.

"And what does this have to do with me?" asked Melinda.

"You see? You were born in this house too. And if he escapes again you could be at risk. Patti was not born here, Melinda," said Piper putting her hand on her shoulder.

"If this house is do dangerous, why not just get rid of it?" asked Melinda.

Piper thought for a minute. "This house has a greater connection with us. Since it could produce great good or great evil from its connection to the cosmos. So we really can't get rid of it. However, I could never live here again. Never as long as I can remember," said  
Piper defiantly.

"But you're willing to risk Patti and her family?" asked Melinda not believing her Mother's strange attitude.

"Sweetie, I won't be here forever and I need to pass it along. The Book of Shadows is only safe in this house. It's only my hunch, but Patti will be following the Wicca ways more than you. Your destiny is among the white lighters. Your heritage comes from your father. I'm endowing Patti with the legacy of the Halliwell's," explained Piper  
lovingly.

"But.." stammered Melinda.

"And I don't do that lightly. I know what can come from having to deal with evil. Don't you think I know? But with you girls raised more as witches than my sisters and I. I have to have faith that you two will be wiser and more careful than we were. So PLEASE don't  
forget my most harsh lesson I learned. DON'T TURN YOUR BACK ON YOUR  
DESTINY!" Piper said with great conviction holding her daughter's hands.

"I'll remember Mother. I promise," said Melinda hugging her Mother tightly.

Piper coughed a couple of times. "I love you too, Melinda. But we need to leave this dust bowl."

Melinda smiled at her Mother and taking her hand they left the basement that returned to darkness.

"One.. two.. three!" shouted Patti as she threw her bouquet from the top of the long spiral staircase. Arcing over the crowd one of Patti's friends from high school squealed after she caught it. Patti waved and ascended the stairs with her new husband.

"That was a beautiful reception and Patti was such a beautiful bride," exclaimed Darryl standing next to Piper.

"She did me proud," said Piper dabbing her eyes. "And how'd your family?"

"Five grandchildren and a wife I can't pin down. She is in to so much, I never see her at home. I'd thought we'd enjoy our retirement, Piper!"

"Leo is the same way. He left his ..ah firm and then can't find enough to keep himself busy," replied Piper putting away her handkerchief. "I on the other hand don't think I can ever leave my businesses. Neither of my daughters seems to be interested. Patti wants her own law practice and Melinda can't stop helping people. I'm proud of both of them, but I may end up selling the thing," lamented Piper. "Oh, here comes Patti."

Down the stairs on the arm of her husband Richard, Patti grinned with a certain air of quiet bliss. She couldn't keep her eyes off of her husband and barely even noticed the guests in the hallway below. Richard's parents came up and hugged them both followed by Leo and Piper.

"Bye, Mother, Dad. Thanks for everything! Love you," she said with tears in her eyes as the groom swept the bride out the door.

Piper could only smile through the tears as she watched her second daughter start her new life. The sea of people followed them to their car waving and hugging and wishing them their best. Then a flash occurred and a dark cloud-like figure appeared above the crowd.

Whoosh! Piper's lifelong panic set in and she froze the crowd. Only a few good witches were still moving wondering why that time was suspended.

The smoky demon looked down, seemed to point toward the newlyweds as Patti disappeared in a shower of sparks. Piper who had been through so many of these ghostly apparitions ran from the crowd with Melinda and Richard behind her. Piper left Leo to  
explain the sudden disappearance of a large part of the wedding party. Their next stop was the attic of Halliwell Manor.

Inside the smartly remodeled Manor in some colors that would turn the stomach of Penny Halliwell, Piper and her relations walked up to the attic the one room Piper would not let her change. Quickly she began to pour over the old demon-chasing book looking for their adversary. Looking under her mode of operation and his appearance, Piper was quite stumped.

"So Mother Wyatt, what's next? We have got to find my Patti!" asked Richard who had little demon fighting experience.

"First, please call me Piper. I don't want to sound older than I really am. Second, I guess we try looking in other sources. Internet, on-line encyclopedia. Maybe Melinda could check some of her old books at her shop. Without a name finding him could be trouble,"  
lamented Piper.

"I'll orb right over there, Mom," said Melinda looking quite disheveled  
in her pastel pink bridesmaid dress. "No wait," she said looking at the Book of Shadows. It's pages began turning and they stopped on a warlock named Urius.

"Our mystic librarian had struck again. Thanks," Piper called out to the ceiling. "Now let's see who this witchnapper is. Urius of Weymouth. An ancient Druid sorcerer who was murdered on his wedding night in 237 A.D. Prowling the earth causing mayhem he must devour the magic of recently betrothed witches to renew his power. With a fondness for travelers he frequents stables and liveries. And it provides us with a vanquishing spell."

"So we need to check out every stable in town?" asked Richard who was anxious to find Patti.

"Not necessarily. Most ancient evil creatures aren't up to modern lifestyles. It claims he has a fetish about travelers. Eliminating planes and cars, what is the most antique transport system in the city?" asked Piper.

"The bridges? THE highways?" asked Melinda.

"No, older than that," said Piper. "Think," she said tapping her temple.

"The cable cars!" exclaimed Melinda and Richard together.

"Right. And we need to visit the old cable car barn," said Piper.

The crew left the Manor and headed downtown. The building was less of a barn and more a mechanical shed for the whole cable car system. Old motors turned large wheels that kept the cables moving through the streets of San Francisco. Instead of being self-powered vehicles, the cable cars merely grabbed onto a cable that constantly runs under the street and is pulled along until the operator disconnects it from the cable and sets the brake. Melinda, Piper and Richard followed the tour through the barn looking and  
listening for their precious Patti.

"This is taking too long," whispered an impatient Richard. "Maybe this warlock is more twenty-first century savvy than you think. He could be at the airport, the sub-orbital shuttle launch center or even on the space station."

"No, believe me I have had pretty good luck tracking down these stupid evil thingies for quite a few years Richard, dear. It's a knack and I developed the knick for it. What is it, Melinda?" asked Piper seeing her daughter tense up in a premonition.

"She's here and she's alive. In a maintenance room underneath that big rotating engine there," said Melinda who was having difficulty breathing. "But she's in pain."

"Oh my God!" said Richard out loud. As the tour turned the corner they backed away and descended next to the big turning wheel carefully not getting caught the large machinery.  
Walking through the old accumulated grease and oil, they found a small access door. Though locked Melinda concentrated on it and forced it open. The mechanical sounds of the machinery got louder and louder as the spinning of the cable passed directly over their heads heading down the street. Hearing a scream they ran down a passage and found one light coming from behind a steel door. Concentrating on the door. Melinda forced it open. There stood the warlock Urias dressed in a rough fur coat secured by a leather belt standing over Patti who was still in her wedding dress stretched out on the table. Sneering at the rescuers he sent a cold bolt after them that hit the wall causing ice flakes to form on the old wiring.

"Get thee away from me," he cried out in an eerie demonic voice.

A crooked smile formed on Piper's face. She flicked her fingers toward the warlock who put up his hand and deflected the magic. Very surprised Piper tried it again with all the force at her command and still the warlock was not on ice. Tossing anther bolt at them

Melinda disappeared in a flutter of light as Richard looked on very concerned. Running over to the right she got his attention throwing a few more frozen magical blasts at him.

"Mettlesome wenches," he called out as he turned to Richard hitting him with a blast that coated him with ice freezing him solid.

"Richard!" called out his new mother-in-law. Then Piper turned to Urias. "That's witches you antique oaf!"

Melinda appeared behind him grabbing her sister and orbing out before the warlock could respond. Furious he sent a huge cold missile toward Piper who jumped back as part of the ceiling caved in. Melinda reappeared next to Richard.

"Richard," she said with a touch of fright. "You're best there for the minute. Patti, waked up. Patti!" she called pt shaking her sister.

Patti began to stir and moan a bit.

Piper pushed some of the debris off and joined her daughters. "Come on, darling. Wake-up."

First Patti shook the sleep from her eyes and then saw her husband calling out his name,

"First things first. Warlock a hundred and eighty degrees behind you," whispered Melinda.

After ducking another infuriating salvo from Urias Patti threw her hand at the warlock sending him into the wall. "I have HAD ENOUGH of you, you thing from Hades! Mom!" she said with great determination.

Piper breathed in slightly and blew him into a hundred trillion tiny pieces as he groaned in agony. Soon only the whirling sound of the great wheels could be heard.

Patti grabbed her husband as her skin stuck to the surface of the ice. Her tears froze to the surface. She didn't feel herself shivering in the pale light of the underground room.

"Patience, sister dear," said Melinda giving her a quick hug. She placed both of her hands on her brother-in-law and concentrated. A warm glow came from her hands as the ice turned to water. Thinning around Richard Patti kept holding him tight. His blue skin  
disappeared as life returned to his face. With a flutter in his eyelashes he opened his eyes and reached for his wife. Even though they were both cold and wet they couldn't let go of each other. Tightly hugging they reached up and kissed again and again.

"I so thought I'd lost you my dearest," whispered Patti.

Richard agreed. "My heart stopped when you vanished. Never leave me again!" he pleaded with her.

"Never, no never," replied Patti as she was again lost I his lips.

Piper first looked up and down somewhat embarrassed, cleared her through and then broke it. "Speaking of leaving. We'd better get out of this subterranean wicked chamber before we get caught."

Nothing seemed to disturb the newlyweds as Melinda winked to her mother. Raising her hands the entire family disappeared leaving the scene of their latest encounter.

And the newlyweds? They appeared in the honeymoon suite never conscious of anything but each other. All the pain forgotten and a wonderful new life beginning.


End file.
